Mass. Attorney General to Further Restrict Assault Weapon Sales in Response to Recent Shootings - Polidicks

This is from an op-ed by the AG herself that followed her press conference, I'll change it to an alternative source if that's not appropriate. [Quote]It’s no surprise the Orlando killer chose an AR-15 style assault rifle. It’s a weapon of war, originally created for combat, and designed to kill many people in a short amount of time with incredible accuracy. It’s in the same category as weapons chosen by killers in Newtown, Aurora, and San Bernardino. These are not weapons of self-defense. They are weapons used to commit mass murder. And they have no business being in civilian hands.[/quote] [Quote]That will end now. On Wednesday, we are sending a directive to all gun manufacturers and dealers that makes clear that the sale of these copycat assault weapons is illegal in Massachusetts. With this directive, we will ensure we get the full protection intended when lawmakers enacted our assault weapons ban, not the watered-down version of those protections offered by gun manufacturers.[/quote] [Quote][b]We recognize that most residents who purchased these guns in the past believed they were doing so legally, so this directive will not apply to possession of guns purchased before Wednesday.[/b][/quote] Source: [url]https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2016/07/20/the-loophole-mass-assault-weapons-ban/eEvOBklTriWcGznmXqSpYM/story.html[/url] Alternative sources: [url]https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2016/07/20/massachusetts-enforce-longstanding-assault-weapons-ban-closing-loophole[/url] In my opinion, fear mongering, reactionary bullshit. They admit that cosmetics do nothing. I'm concerned they might pull a NY and confiscate a few years down the line. I've also heard she has no right to do this, but I'm not sure there's any truth to that.

i find it funny that the american designed and produced rifle has become the one everyone is scared of instead of the AK

Even if you think criminals will purchase guns from a store you at least have the advantage of being able to track the purchase and ownership of a weapon. Now you're just forcing criminals to get their weapons on the black market which is harder to trace.

yeah that'll totally stop people from instead buying them illegally and also still go around killing people

Won't do jack-shit in stopping mass-shootings.

why assault weapons the guy in dallas who murdered 5 cops and wounded a dozen more was using an [DEL]SKS, a semi-auto.[/DEL] AK-74 it doesn't matter what kind of weapon it is - it'll do damage depending on who's using it and what they do. and before anyone says "but dude guns ARE the problem", a week or so ago someone with a truck ran over and killed 90 people in less than an hour. and someone else tried murdering a train full of people with an axe. the point i'm getting at is that this is bullshit.

[QUOTE=SonicHitman;50746043]why assault weapons the guy in dallas who murdered 5 cops and wounded a dozen more was using an SKS, a semi-auto. it doesn't matter what kind of weapon it is - it'll do damage depending on who's using it and what they do. and before anyone says "but dude guns ARE the problem", a week or so ago someone with a truck ran over and killed 90 people in less than an hour. and someone else tried murdering a train full of people with an axe. the point i'm getting at is that this is bullshit.[/QUOTE] assault weapons are semi-automatic. what makes a gun an assault weapon are cosmetic features

[QUOTE=SonicHitman;50746043]why assault weapons the guy in dallas who murdered 5 cops and wounded a dozen more was using an SKS, a semi-auto. it doesn't matter what kind of weapon it is - it'll do damage depending on who's using it and what they do.[/QUOTE] It was an AK74.

[quote]It’s no surprise the Orlando killer chose an AR-15 style assault rifle.[/quote] None of the guns used in any recent mass shooting have been an assault rifle. (not since the LA shootout, or the [del]Valentines Day Massacre[/del](not even that. Tommy gun is an SMG)) There is a big difference. Assault rifles [I]are[/I] what the military uses. They're fully automatic, select fire rifles. The AR-15 is not an assault rifle by any definition. If you're going to legislate things and make statements like [quote]These are not weapons of self-defense. They are weapons used to commit mass murder. And they have no business being in civilian hands.[/quote] You should at least be able to sound informed when you talk about it rather than resorting to buzzword rhetoric. Assault rifles and Assault weapons are two very drastically different things. With varying levels of legal ownership. They are not interchangeable terms. An Attorney General should know this. I thought the legal profession was supposed to be anal retentive about definitions and specific meaning.

I can build an external shell for a car that gives it an appearance of a tank, but in no way is it actually a tank. The same can be said for "assault" weapons. They may have the same appearance of military rifles, but they are not military rifles.

This is an important part: [quote]The directive specifically outlines two tests to determine what constitutes a “copy” or “duplicate” of a prohibited weapon. If a gun’s operating system is essentially the same as that of a banned weapon, or if the gun has components that are interchangeable with those of a banned weapon, it’s a “copy” or “duplicate,” and it is illegal. Assault weapons prohibited under our laws cannot be altered in any way to make their sale or possession legal in Massachusetts.[/quote] Basically, they don't like that manufacturers made their assault weapons not assault weapons so they're going to ban them even further. Why bother with legal terms like an assault weapon at that point, anyway? You might as well just ban semi-automatic rifles. Also doesn't address that semi-automatic rifles are rarely used in crime as it is, and the AWB did nothing to the statistics. Oh well. [editline]20th July 2016[/editline] [QUOTE=OvB;50746107]This is an important part: Basically, they don't like that manufacturers made their assault weapons not assault weapons so they're going to ban them even further. Why bother with legal terms like an assault weapon at that point, anyway? You might as well just ban semi-automatic rifles. Also doesn't address that semi-automatic rifles are rarely used in crime as it is, and the AWB did nothing to the statistics. Oh well.[/QUOTE] [quote]If a gun’s operating system is essentially the same as that of a banned weapon[/quote] Aren't most semi-automatic rifles operating systems [I]essentially[/I] the same?

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't assault weapons mostly banned or ridiculously over regulated in Mass? It sounds like from the article that they're trying to ban semiauto weapons by name now since people were able to own guns legally with stupid modifications to comply with even more stupid laws.

Want to shoot up a school? Use a sawed-off shotgun and a handgun Want to shoot up a college? Use two pistols Want to kill a president? Use a bolt-action rifle from WW2. None of those would fall under an AWB.

[QUOTE=Zillamaster55;50746141]Want to shoot up a school? Use a sawed-off shotgun and a handgun Want to shoot up a college? Use two pistols Want to kill a president? Use a bolt-action rifle from WW2. None of those would fall under an AWB.[/QUOTE] Fuck why stop at a ww2 rifle, just build yourself a Pneumatic weapon

[QUOTE=Exploders;50746212]Fuck why stop at a ww2 rifle, just build yourself a Pneumatic weapon[/QUOTE] I'm naming examples of weapons that would not fall under feelgood bans and waht they were used for (Columbine, Virginia, JFK, etc.)

[QUOTE=Zillamaster55;50746141]Want to shoot up a school? Use a sawed-off shotgun and a handgun Want to shoot up a college? Use two pistols Want to kill a president? Use a bolt-action rifle from WW2. None of those would fall under an AWB.[/QUOTE] Want to kill 80+ people in the streets? Go rent a U-Haul.

Once again the way the US is handling gun control is displayed in all its retarded glory. The furniture and doodads used on a rifle isn't going to make it any closer to or further away from being anything other than a rifle. A mass shooter with a surplus mosin is just as practically dangerous as one with an M60 - It'd maybe lead to a higher casualty count, but if the point of gun control is to prevent mass shootings (and assault with firearms in general) rather than mitigate the damage caused by them, it's still failing. Inane shit like barrel length, or the type of the stock or the capacity of the magazine are fucking irrelevant. If someone has the will to go around killing people cause they feel like it, they'd do it whether they had a knife or a fucking bazooka at their disposal. Deranged killers aren't in the mindset where they'd stop and think, "Oh, I can only use 5 rounds in a magazine out of a bolt-action instead of 30 from a semi-auto. My impulse to murder is gone!" Likewise for crime, some dude walks up and points a zip-gun or a micro-uzi in your face, the threat is essentially the same.

[QUOTE=Psychokitten;50746280]Want to kill 80+ people in the streets? Go rent a U-Haul.[/QUOTE] or like, petrol/diesel and stump remover :v: [editline]21st July 2016[/editline] [QUOTE=Morbo!!!;50746301]Once again the way the US is handling gun control is displayed in all its retarded glory. The furniture and doodads used on a rifle isn't going to make it any closer to or further away from being anything other than a rifle. A mass shooter with a surplus mosin is just as practically dangerous as one with an M60 - It'd maybe lead to a higher casualty count, but if the point of gun control is to prevent mass shootings (and assault with firearms in general) rather than mitigate the damage caused by them, it's still failing. Inane shit like barrel length, or the type of the stock or the capacity of the magazine are fucking irrelevant. If someone has the will to go around killing people cause they feel like it, they'd do it whether they had a knife or a fucking bazooka at their disposal. Deranged killers aren't in the mindset where they'd stop and think, "Oh, I can only use 5 rounds in a magazine out of a bolt-action instead of 30 from a semi-auto. My impulse to murder is gone!" Likewise for crime, some dude walks up and points a zip-gun or a micro-uzi in your face, the threat is essentially the same.[/QUOTE] this is the one thing that bugs me about nz gun laws [t]http://www.guncity.co.nz/images/171552.jpg[/t] this is legal on an entry gun license but [t]http://www.pewpewtactical.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Typical-AR-15-1024x301.jpg[/t] is not they're still both semi-auto firearms, and both of them can kill people :v: the only sort of agreeable thing to restrict should be magazine capacity, since when are you going to need 30 .233 rounds to take down a boar or a deer or ducks or whatever the fuck else.

Why don't they just ban terrorism? /s

Uh, wait. I've read it several times but [B]I'm not actually seeing any new laws[/B] that say this is illegal. All I see is the AG going "don't sell 'em here ok buddy!!!!!!" which means exactly jack shit because I can still buy an 80% lower and build one myself. Some gems that stand out: [quote]The gun industry has found a way to exploit our laws, a loophole of potentially horrific proportions. And it’s time we act.[/quote]So changing their product specifically to comply with legal regulations is a bad thing, got it. [quote]But gun manufacturers have taken it upon themselves to define what a “copy” or “duplicate” weapon is. They market “state compliant” copycat versions of their assault weapons to Massachusetts buyers. They sell guns without a flash suppressor or folding or telescoping stock, for example, small tweaks that do nothing to limit the lethalness of the weapon.[/quote]Translation: "We banned cosmetic features of these rifles but then the gun manufacturers started selling different cosmetic features that we didn't ban, it's a loophole!" This is the typical gun grabber mindset, the amount of bullshit doublethink that's being shat out is fucking incredible. There isn't any loophole here, it's a stupid law written up by emotional retards who don't understand what they're talking about and crying when it doesn't work. [quote]If a gun’s operating system is essentially the same as that of a banned weapon, or if the gun has components that are interchangeable with those of a banned weapon, it’s a “copy” or “duplicate,” and it is illegal.[/quote]aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa You can't just make up definitions when your poorly written law that's based on a stupid, bullshit premise doesn't work! You're an attorney general you should already know this! This is the kind of shit that drives me up the wall, when people say "look ok we're not comin for your guns settle down lmao" I think of this sort of arbitrary bullshit that really shows the underlying agenda. Yeah they're coming for our guns, one papercut at a time. When we stop and go "okay, new law, let's follow it!" it's apparently exploiting a "loophole" and that's problematic! Under this interpretation basically the only rifles that can be sold safely are bolt-action, straight-pull, pump or lever action because most semi-auto rifles on the market are derivatives of military weapons or share a few common parts with "assault weapons." Then people wonder why we're "being paranoid" when this horseshit comes up, well this is precisely why. Even turning the semi-auto AR into a manual action ([url=http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2015/08/06/custom-pump-action-ar-15/]pump[/url] or [url=http://www.southern-gun.co.uk/?page=items&cat_id=1&item_id=33]lever[/url]) still won't count because [I]some[/I] of the parts can fit in banned weapons. What a fucking joke. [quote]Assault weapons prohibited under our laws cannot be altered in any way to make their sale or possession legal in Massachusetts.[/quote]"Complying with our laws is illegal you murder death killers! Shame!!!" [editline]oh and some more shit I forgot about[/editline] Oh and around three hundred people die annually to rifles nationwide, including suicides and accidents which means the dreaded "assault weapon" is a minority of a minority. Actually that means the number of Massachusetts-compliant "assault weapons" out there are a minority of a small minority of a tiny minority. We're in some strange territory now, there's probably a greater chance of dying to a shark attack over being killed by some neutered rifle without a pistol grip. Hell, the statistical probability of my own death to a shark (I live in Minnesota by the way) is probably greater than some fucking guy in Massachusetts being blasted by an Ares SCR.

[QUOTE=MrBunneh;50746558]the only sort of agreeable thing to restrict should be magazine capacity, since when are you going to need 30 .233 rounds to take down a boar or a deer or ducks or whatever the fuck else.[/QUOTE] Why bother restricting magazine capacity? These things are designed to be very quick to reload, with enough practice. Won't make much difference if it's carrying 10, 20 or 30 rounds. [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCSySuemiHU[/media]

As I've said before, if you want gun control, don't half-ass it and implement feel-good measures that fuck with semantics. Just go all the way and say you want all guns to be strictly regulated (whether a ban or some other form of regulation). Handguns especially, considering how most crime is carried out by handguns. Anything less than that is dishonest.

[QUOTE=RIPBILLYMAYS;50746023]Even if you think criminals will purchase guns from a store you at least have the advantage of being able to track the purchase and ownership of a weapon. Now you're just forcing criminals to get their weapons on the black market which is harder to trace.[/QUOTE] how does one go about getting guns from the black market [editline]21st July 2016[/editline] like everyone goes "they'll just use the blackmarket!" how easy do you think it is to just grab a gun from the black market?

[QUOTE=TheBloodyNine;50748101]how does one go about getting guns from the black market [editline]21st July 2016[/editline] like everyone goes "they'll just use the blackmarket!" how easy do you think it is to just grab a gun from the black market?[/QUOTE] So I know the term "Black Market" sounds really scary but it's actually a lot more basic than you think. I know people in my town where if I decided I wanted a gun and as long as I had the cash I could get one and in some circumstances and I'm not exaggerating I can buy them significantly cheaper than if I were to purchase one legally (and I'd get it same day as opposed to waiting three-four weeks) It's like, just a friend of a friend's friend sort of system. Just because someone sells illegal firearms doesn't mean they're like career criminals. Like if your Uncle Jimmy bought a dozen cheap handguns in Kansas in 1995 or in Arizona last month during his road trip and has been sitting on them since then selling them piece by piece to buddies and co-workers for spare cash because he can mark them up x2 the actual price if he sells them out the trunk. Also the internet is a pretty big resource for this stuff. Like, if you go to a real dealership or business they won't just sell you guns over the net. But there are literally places where you can illegally purchase handguns and such and have them shipped to your house. Naturally, we are talking purely illegal enterprise. Actual licensed gun stores won't ship you guns despite what the media tries to make people believe. Most illegally possessed handguns for example are stolen anyway. Someone breaks into a house, smashes a lock box and finds a gun. Now they can sell it or use it in a crime. Done. [editline]21st July 2016[/editline] Like if you were able to absolve me of all legal repercussion I could get you a handgun or a rifle illegally on the internet. You just have to go looking. And I'm not saying it to say like "Oh look how mysterious I am I know where to buy illegal shit" it's just like, there. People buy weed and shit off the internet everyday. Like remember Silk Road? Everyone knew what the site was selling but it still took ages before anyone actually shut them down. Now imagine the same thing but instead of nug-nug's it's guns.

[QUOTE=TheBloodyNine;50748101]how does one go about getting guns from the black market [editline]21st July 2016[/editline] like everyone goes "they'll just use the blackmarket!" how easy do you think it is to just grab a gun from the black market?[/QUOTE] when people say black market, they mean people building guns with scrap metal with machining equipment and then selling them.

(most) pistols are semi-automatic i personally think fully automatic weapons should be restricted and only handguns should be able to be open/concealed carried but uh how does one actually define an assault weapon? some definitions consider some simple pistols assault weapons [editline]21st July 2016[/editline] these bans are far too wide

[QUOTE=Map in a box;50748340](most) pistols are semi-automatic i personally think fully automatic weapons should be restricted and only handguns should be able to be open/concealed carried but uh how does one actually define an assault weapon? some definitions consider some simple pistols assault weapons [editline]21st July 2016[/editline] these bans are far too wide[/QUOTE] fully automatic guns are pretty heavily regulated. unless you're a gun dealer with the proper licensing any full auto gun or transferable parts have to have been produced before 1986 and are rare enough they'll cost you over $10k at a minimum plus a $200 tax stamp. you can't just walk to your local gun shop and pick up a full auto.

[QUOTE=Shirt.;50748325]when people say black market, they mean people building guns with scrap metal with machining equipment and then selling them.[/QUOTE] then id rather people walking around with shitty scrap rifles

[QUOTE=TheBloodyNine;50748473]then id rather people walking around with shitty scrap rifles[/QUOTE]You do realize that most of the firms in the firearms industry are small shops that produce custom firearms worth thousands of dollars and not whatever Fallout 4 pipe rifle monstrosity you have in your head, right? Probably most of the high-end precision rifles in the 50's through 70's were built on some dude's lathe in his basement workshop. Of course the Vietnam War changed that for a few reasons, but you can still order a custom-made and built from scratch rifle that has sub-MOA accuracy. This is also ignoring that 80% AR lowers exist, and of course the [url=http://www.northeastshooters.com/vbulletin/threads/179192-DIY-Shovel-AK-photo-tsunami-warning!]saga of the shovel AK[/url] are good examples of why you will never ban guns. Oh and hahaha [I]by the fucking way[/I] it's easier to make an open-bolt machine gun than a semi-automatic, so much so that the ATF has specifically banned any semi-automatic that fires from an open-bolt. Why? Well because for most of them the one tool you need to turn it into a full-auto bullet hose is some sandpaper or a file.

Just wait until the next big shooting/murder where the weapon was illegally obtained. All you're doing is pissing people off.